Trade-offs for climate-resilient pastoral livelihoods in wildlife conservancies in the Mara Ecosystem, Kenya: Small Grants Programme

This paper investigates the ability of wildlife conservancies in the Mara, Kenya to act as an alternative for pastoralists in mitigating risks and maintaining resilience in a changing climate. Conservancies can integrate with and contribute to pastoralist livelihoods. The report weighs trade-offs for pastoralists as they work with conservancies to mitigate climate change amid pressures on ecosystem resources. Findings show that conservancy payments provide important, reliable year-round income and prevent households from having to sell livestock during stressful periods. They also retain grass banks during the dry season for continued access to forage. However, among other drawbacks, they reduce access to large areas of former grazing lands.UKaid from the British peopl

Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Human–Wildlife Conflicts in the Kenya Greater Tsavo Ecosystem

Biodiversity conservation in developing countries is faced with many and mounting challenges, including increasing human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs). In Africa and other developing countries, increasing HWCs, particularly those adjacent to protected areas, can adversely affect local stakeholder perceptions and support for conservation. We analyzed HWC reports for multiple wildlife species compiled \u3e23 years (1995–2017) from the Greater Tsavo Ecosystem (GTE) in Kenya to determine HWC trends. The GTE is the largest protected area in Kenya, covering 22,681 km2. Overall, 39,022 HWC incidents were reported in 6 GTE regions (i.e., Taveta, Mutomo, Kibwezi, Rombo, Galana, Bachuma). The 5 wildlife species most often implicated in HWC incidents were the African elephant (Loxodonta africana, 61.6%, n = 24,032), nonhuman primates (11.5%, n = 4,480), buffalo (Syncerus caffer, 6.2%, n = 2,432 ), African lion (Panthera leo, 4.2%, n = 1,645), and the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius, 3.8%, n = 1,497). The HWC reports also revealed spatial distinctions across the 6 GTE regions. More human–elephant conflicts (HECs; 43.3%, n = 10,427) were reported in the Taveta region than other regions. The Mutomo region was the epicenter of primate, snake, and python (Python spp.) conflicts. More large carnivore depredations on livestock were reported in the Taveta, Rombo, and Mutomo regions. Lions, spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), and leopards (P. pardus) were implicated in more livestock depredations than other carnivores. The number of HWCs reported varied by year and season and were related to similar variations in the availability, quality, and distribution of food and water governed by rainfall fluctuations. Reported HECs were positively and linearly related to human, elephant, and livestock population densities. The Kenya Wildlife Service responded to \u3e90% of the reported HWCs. In general, the number of HWCs and trends reported were higher in the regions that also exhibited the highest human population growth rates and densities. Sustainable biodiversity conservation in human-dominated landscapes is contingent upon communities deriving meaningful benefits from wildlife conservation. Far-sighted measures and different conservation approaches are required to mitigate HWCs in communities neighboring protected areas

Human-wildlife conflict, benefit sharing and the survival of lions in pastoralist community-based conservancies

No abstract available

Evaluating the determinants of participation in conservancy land leases and its impacts on household wealth in the Maasai Mara, Kenya: Equity and gender implications

Understanding the impact of conservation interventions on local communities is important in determining their effects on livelihoods and wellbeing. However, impacts are often not uniform and there are important equity dimensions when evaluating interventions. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate determinants of participation in conservation land leases in the Mara Conservancies in southern Kenya and its impact on household wealth. We find that land ownership determines who can participate in and benefit from conservancy land lease payments, and by how much. The design of the land lease payment scheme therefore has the potential to reinforce and, in cases, amplify existing inequities as it is built upon a legacy of unequal historical land distribution processes that limit the participation of women and poor landless households. We observed significantly higher incomes amongst participant households compared to non-participants, but these differences disappeared after propensity score matching. These results suggest that the differences were not caused by participation in conservancies. Our findings suggest that the design and outcomes of land-based conservation or payment for ecosystem services schemes should consider historic and existing land tenure systems if they are to reduce inequality

Reversing the disintegration of the Mara Ecosystem:A feasibility study

The One Mara Research Hub (OMRH) in May2020 received a grant of EUR 46,000 from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) through the Base Camp Explorer Foundation- Kenya to carryout a 6-month feasibility study of the Greater Mara Ecosystem. The aim of this study was to prioritize areas in the Mara where additional conservation areas should be established by identifying the ecologically valuable areas and mapping historical and current constraints in protecting these areas. A social survey to collect firsthand information on the views of the local communities on the impact of and need for further conservation measures was also conducted. This report summarizes, synthesizes and interprets the project’s key findings and makes several first recommendations pertinent to conservation and human socio-economic development in the Mara. It should be noted that this report was a relatively short, limited study aimed at identifying the feasibility for a much more extensive project of this type. For this study we first mapped the two migratory systems characterizing the Mara ecosystem. We then analyzed the aerial surveys of wildlife and livestock performed by the Kenyan Directorate of Resource Surveys and Remote Sensing (DRSRS) from 1977 until 2018. In this period, 75 aerial surveys were conducted where all herbivores larger than Thomson’s gazelle and sheep and goats were counted in a landscape-wide 5 x 5 km grid. The results were integrated to whole-ecosystem population estimates using Jolly statistics and trends of different species over the study period calculated. Based on these data, we calculated hotspots of migrant and resident herbivores for the 1970s, as the number of species that were found in a 5 x 5 km grid cell at their 75%percentile and higher abundance (so, 75%of all grid cells for that species had a lower abundance). This yielded maps of the areas of the highest ecological importance in this ecosystem. Where the hotspots occur outside the current protected areas, such areas are candidates for new conservation measures, such as the establishment of new conservancies. We then determined the main current threats and limitations to such conservation measures, by mapping the distribution of fences from high-resolution satellite imagery, constructing a 5 x 5km resolution human population density map,and spatially downscaling the 2019 national population census of Kenya data. Using the DRSRS data, we also mapped the changes in the abundance and spatial distribution of livestock (cattle, sheep, and goats) and resulting competitive pressure as potential explanatory variables for wildlife trends and distributions. To get a better understanding of the views of the local communities on natural resource trends, conservation, and conservancies we interviewed 338 people with a rural livelihood (2/3rd men, 1/3rd women, all Masai). These household surveys were conducted to assess the attitudes of the Mara residents towards conservation, perception of changes,livelihoods, ranking of potential conservation-compatible development investments and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Greater Mara Ecosystem. We asked 585 questions to each respondent regarding all these different aspects of their views and livelihood, and statistically summarized their responses. In addition, we reviewed peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and gray literature, including personal memoirs, government reports, project reports and other materials,to reconstruct the recent conservation history of the Mara. The specific literature reviewed focused on wildlife abundance and distribution and land use changes in the past century with emphasis on the changes occurring within the recent decades. The review also evaluated the changes in human and livestock population, settlements, rainfall and temperature patterns, land tenure, land fragmentation through fencing and socio-cultural and political practices. The review also considered patterns of legal and illegal exploitation of wildlife, wildlife policies, pieces of legislation, institutions, governance, and markets. Relevant datasets were amalgamated and analyzed using various off-the-shelf software packages, such as ArcGIS Online, and bespoke scripts written in different programming languages. The results are summarized as distribution maps, temporal trends, scenarios for new conservancies, constraints to, and approximate cost of, establishing each new conservancy